The Face Mask of Moses
Text: Exodus 34:29-35
It had to be the most annoying part of Moses’ job as leader of the Wayward and Obstinate People of God.
Just imagine it.
You hike up to the top of a mountain where you get the unbelievable chance to sit at the feet of God as he gives you the Word of God that will shape the Hebrew people with justice and righteousness, truly forming them into the image of God and a beacon of light and hope for the rest of the world.
You rush down the mountain, excited to share this Word with the people, your face literally beaming with the glory of God. You gather everyone together so that they too can share in this glory and hear the very words of God.
But before you can say a single word, your brother pulls you aside.
Aaron has a request: ‘Hey, Mo, would you mind wearing a face mask?
‘A face mask? Why?’
‘Well…it’s this whole ‘glory of God’ thing you got going on all over your face. We kind of think it will kill us. You know?’
‘Kill you?! It’s the glory of God! This is what it looks like to be in relationship with God! You should want to see it so that maybe you too can reflect it!’
‘Yeah. I’m sure. Anyway, do you mind, bro?’
And so, even though there was no real reason to, and even though he thought it was ridiculous and annoying, he put on the face mask – and did so every time he came back down the mountain – so that the others would feel safe and they could continue in fellowship together as the people of God.
There’s a lot of talk out there about face masks today – it’s in the news, in every day interactions, and for some reason, even in our politics. Most folks are seemingly convinced that we should wear them in public and encourage folks to do so. Others are less so, or want to make a political statement, and so either don’t bother to wear a face mask, or even outright refuse to.
I don’t know where you are on this issue, but as disciples of Jesus Christ, I’d like to suggest that it doesn’t matter what our opinion is on face masks.
Maybe you are like Moses, and you find wearing a mask annoying or ridiculous. Maybe, like Moses, you believe that there’s no real reason to. But, like Moses, wearing a face mask isn’t about us – it’s about the others we share space with who feel endangered and want to feel safe as we do life and worship together.
And, as disciples of Jesus Christ, our lives and our actions should be about others. As Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3-4: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
As Christians, we look to the needs and concerns of others, not our own interests or comforts – and the central political statement of our platform is that of humility, generosity, and love for others.
And that means wearing face masks right now, regardless of how we feel about it, or how it makes us look, or any other concerns that we have.
In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul also talks about Moses’ face mask – how needless and ridiculous it was, and yet how he wore it anyway for the sake of the others. He goes on to say that Christ has removed the face mask of Moses, so that, we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory as in a mirror, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (3:18)
That’s what I am longing for – to gather with all of you and reflect the Lord’s glory in one another’s unmasked faces, so that together we can be transformed into the image of Christ!
But if we are going to get back there, there are some things we need to do first.
So, I have a request: Do you mind wearing a face mask, eh?
